Energy-Based Physics-Informed Form Finding for Clustered Tensegrity Structures

Abstract

Tensegrity form-finding and physical property prediction are fundamental problems in structural mechanics, which aim to determine equilibrium configurations and internal force distributions. These problems are challenging due to strong nonlinearity arising from the coupling between geometry and forces, and the need to satisfy equilibrium, stability, and structural constraints. This paper proposes an energy-based learning approach for clustered tensegrity form finding and physical property prediction. The proposed approach incorporates total potential energy minimization and constitutive relations into the training objective, enabling the prediction of equilibrium nodal configurations and the reconstruction of physical quantities such as member forces and force densities. By integrating energy-based physical losses directly into the learning process, the method promotes physical consistency while combining data-driven learning with physics-based constraints. Numerical experiments on tensegrity prism and lander structures demonstrate accurate prediction of equilibrium configurations and internal forces across different training-data ratios, indicating the potential of the proposed approach for nonlinear tensegrity form finding and structural analysis.